Tag Archives: Lio Messi

The Spanish Minister for Education, Culture and Sport, José Ignacio Wert, defended the presumption of Messi’s innocence in the tax fraud complaint filed by Spanish tax authorities, although he said that “the law is the same for everyone, even the No. 1”.

Wert explained that, so far, there has been an investigation and a complaint by the tax authorities, and that the player and his advisors currently believe that they have committed no wrongdoing.

When asked about the damage that Messi’s case could inflict on the image of Spanish sport, the minister differentiated between the “sporting arena” and the individual behaviour of sportsmen, in this case as taxpayers, which “involve the people, and not sport or their sporting activity”.

“We need to be patient and see what the investigation proves. Of course, the law is the same for everyone, even for the No. 1, but we must always presume innocence to begin with, in this and every other case,” stressed the minister.

Tax authorities in Barcelona have filed a complaint against Leo Messi and his father, Jorge Horacio Messi, for alleged fraudulent tax returns of more than €4 million in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

The quantity of money involved is said to correspond to earnings from the Argentine player’s image rights for those years.

The complaint, signed by Judge Raquel Amado, has been filed at the courthouse in Gavà (Barcelona), where the Barcelona player lives, according to the Spanish news agency Efe.

According to the prosecution, “in an attempt to avoid paying tax”, parties simulated the transfer of the player’s image rights “to shell companies based in tax havens (Belize, Uruguay) and in addition, signed license, agent and service agreements between these companies and other shell companies based in countries best suited to him (UK, Switzerland).” Continue reading Lionel Messi accused of tax fraud→